Progressive Policy Shortlist - Childhood Bereavement Network: Cohabiting Parents and Bereavement Benefits Campaign
Progressive Policy Shortlist - Childhood Bereavement Network: Cohabiting Parents and Bereavement Benefits Campaign
After more than a decade of campaigning, a recent win for the Childhood Bereavement Network and many partner organisations has seen eligibility to bereavement benefits extended, meaning cohabiting parents and their children can now get financial support.
Parents with dependent children are entitled to bereavement payments worth almost £10,000 if their partner dies before the children grow up. These payments, made over 18 months, give families a bit of breathing space as they adjust to life without their mum or dad.
Entitlement is built up through the National Insurance (NI) contributions of the partner who died, in the same way that these contributions build up entitlement to other social insurance benefits such as the State Pension and certain unemployment allowances.
People make NI contributions at the same rate, whatever their relationship status. However, until recently, Bereavement Support Payment was only paid when the parents had been married or in a civil partnership. It was denied to families where the parents had been cohabiting without being married. That meant that around 1,800 grieving families a year faced the terrible double blow of one parent dying and then being denied state support. This injustice took on a new dimension during the pandemic, when so many weddings were postponed.
The impact of being denied these benefits is devastating, layering anxiety and shame on top of grief. One mum said
“Holding down a full-time job whilst looking after a young child with very little support is taking a toll on my mental health leaving little time for grieving, which then impacts on my child’s happiness. I had to sell my house as a result. I feel naïve as I didn’t realise that not being married meant that my child was treated as if they were lesser than children of married parents. This guilt is difficult to handle.”
Now, thanks to a dedicated campaign by many organisations and individuals, coordinated by the Childhood Bereavement Network, cohabiting couples are entitled to the benefit. From 9 February 2023, newly bereaved families have been able to claim. Very unusually, the Government is also making retrospective payments back to August 2018 when the Supreme Court found the eligibility rules to be incompatible with Human Rights legislation.
Getting to this point has involved the full playbook of public campaigning, strategic litigation, parliamentary lobbying and working with officials. Since 2011, the Childhood Bereavement Network has co-ordinated activity to try and influence the government to make this change, through proposing amendments to legislation, meeting with ministers and officials, and gathering and analysing evidence for the Work and Pensions Select Committee and individual MPs including Sir Ed Davey and Stella Creasy.
Key to all of this has been the tireless work of parent campaigners, particularly Georgia Elms and Vicky Anning at WAY Widowed and Young, many of whose members have been affected by this injustice. Parents Siobhan McLaughlin, Kevin Simpson and James Jackson were brave enough to appeal the decisions to deny benefits to them and their children – their court victories paved the way for change. Laura Rudd set up a public petition that quickly gathered over 100,000 signatures from people calling for the rules to be amended.
Many organisations have backed the campaign, signing joint letters, endorsing briefings and sharing ideas and insights to help design the changes: the Scottish Partnership for Palliative Care, One Parent Families Scotland and Child Poverty Action Group Scotland, to name but a few. As will be clear, a huge number of people have been instrumental to this change. You can read the thank-yous in this twitter thread.
However, the work doesn’t stop here. While some people have had a straightforward experience of making a retrospective claim since February, and have already received their payment, others (particularly those bereaved longer ago) have struggled to get the information they need about what implications a claim might have on their wider tax and benefits entitlement. We are pressing DWP to improve their communications with potential claimants before, during and after they put in a claim. We also have much work to do to fund the 21,000 families who could be in line for a back payment.
We are also sharing our insights with those campaigning for justice for bereaved people who are still ineligible, including surviving partners without children, and those whose partner was too sick or disabled to build up the necessary NI contributions. It’s crucial that this lifeline support is extended to all those who should be protected at a time of great stress and grief.
For more information, visit www.childhoodbereavementnetwork.org.uk/cohabiting
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